21: Esbern, Rahgot, and the Missing Element
With the weapon Volendrung, Malacath's artifact, safely secured in her personal chest Sunset and her friends bid the orcs of Largashbur farewell and entered the Rift once more. Sunset was quite pleased with her progress in collecting the Daedric Artifacts, as she now carried four of them and one of those four happened to be the Dawnbreaker, which she carried on her belt and used from time to time. That was four artifacts that Tirek couldn't get his hands on anymore, though she had to admit that the remaining eleven would take some time for her and her friends to recover.
Though now that they had completed the reason she had wanted to come to this region of Skyrim for Sunset wondered if they could just leave and go look for another artifact, but then she remembered her promise to Delphine and sighed, before telling her friends where they were heading next.
They returned to the road they had taken while they had been following Chief Yamarz and continued along it, heading back towards the area where the giant's cave had been located. Eventually they reached the fork that the former chieftain had turned right on, but instead of following that path they turned to their left and continued along the road, where they could see one of the gates that made up the entrances to Riften. The guards took one look at them, almost as if they were trying to determine what trouble they were bringing to the city, before they moved out of their way and opened the gate for them, allowing Sunset and her friends to enter the city.
As they entered the city Sunset looked around, silently wondering where they were going to find this Esbern, before she remembered that Cicero had stolen the journal containing that very information. Before she could turn around and ask the jester what the book said on Esbern's whereabouts she spotted the last person she expected to see in Riften; Raja, the khajiit they had shared a carriage ride with not too long ago. She was sitting on a wall next to another nord, who seemed to be in the process of selling some people some type of potion, though they weren't taking any of it as they walked away.
The only thing different about her, Sunset noted, was that she was wearing what appeared to be a black suit of leather armor, that had a variety of pockets and pouches.
"Come on Brynjolf," Raja said, patting the nord on the shoulder, "I've told you three times now, but I don't think this 'Falmer Blood Elixir' is ever going to sell."
"I just had to try Guild Master," Brynjolf replied, sighing for a moment before packing up the rest of the potions, "I was just wondering that, now that you've restored us to our former glory, if my plan had any success to it... but it turns out that not even our uncanny luck could help me out on this one."
"Glad to see you're finally accepting this for what it is," Raja commented, sliding off the wall and coming to a stand beside the nord, "Now that we're done with this I've got some missions that you and Karliah need to hand out to the rest of the Guild... and you know where some of the gold will be going to."
"Yes Guild Master," Brynjolf moaned, as if he had been told the same thing so many times already, "I'll see to it that half of your share is send to Aventus Aretino in Windhelm, though I'll never understand why you'd give up half of your spoils with so little effort."
"There is something personal that I don't expect you to understand," Raja said, glaring at the nord for a moment, before sighing and lightening her gaze to a friendly look once more, "suffice to say that there is a kindness to be repaid and leave it at that..."
That was before Raja and Brynjolf turned around and spotted Sunset and her friends staring at them, though as they did so Sunset noticed another sigh come out of Raja.
"And here I was hoping that this day would never come," Raja commented, passing by Sunset's group and beckoning for them to follow her and her companion, "though it seems like I have some explaining to do."
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Raja led them into the Ratway, the underbelly of Riften, before arriving at the Ragged Flagon, where the master thieves liked to hang out and watch for any possible new recruits. The thieves that Sunset met when they arrived weren't too pleased to have their new boss bring in a group of people that weren't going to be joining them anytime soon. They were also less than pleased when they spotted Cicero, while told Sunset that that Thieves Guild and the Dark Brotherhood didn't exactly like each other, though none of the thieves dared attack them when they realized that Sunset was the Archmage of the College of Winterhold.
Once they had settled down, and were seated at a table, Raja began her explanation by apologizing to Sunset for the deception when they had first met each other on the carriage. She had been weary from her journey from one of the sacred locations to the Thieves Guild, one that she would not name nor give the area in which it could be located, and Whiterun was the only immediate area that had a carriage for her to ride. Despite the fact that she could have gotten away with theft in the city she decided to be out before anyone noticed her or recognized her, which was where they had met on the carriage. Her journey to Riften was half true, as she had originally arrived in Skyrim about two months before meeting Sunset on the carriage, but she was also telling the truth when she had said that she was heading there for her sister.
As it turned out her sister needed help transporting some large iron coffin to someplace in Dawnstar, though Cicero had to take a moment to chuckle to himself, and the Thieves Guild were the only people her sister could turn to. The leader of the Dark Brotherhood had, upon hearing of the fact that a dremora named Tirek was stalking Skyrim, absorbing the magic of whoever he touched, insisted that they move the Night Mother to a location that only a few knew about, though she also insisted that she wasn't to know the location either. It was then that Sunset learned that Raja's sister, the elusive Snowheart, was actually the Listener for the Dark Brotherhood, who had sent Cicero to Sunset in the first place.
Once the tale was done Sunset decided to ask about the man they were looking for, the elder Blade named Esbern, though Raja nodded and beckoned her to follow her into another area of the Ratway known as the Ratway Warrens. Sunset beckoned for her friends to remain behind, so they could relax while she had a talk with the man that Delphine wanted them to save before doing anything else. As the two of them walked into the Warrens Sunset also had one last thing to ask Raja, though she wanted to be away from the other thieves before she bothered to ask the question.
"Is it secret?" Sunset asked, silently pulling out the journal Fiona had given her and turned to a certain page, "Is it safe?"
Raja looked her way for a moment, apparently going to ask what in Oblivion was she talking about, before she spotted the page Sunset had opened to, containing a detailed picture of a key she had given back to its master not so long ago, and nodding her understanding.
"As safe as it could possibly be," Raja commented, continuing down the hallways as Sunset followed her, "I pray that the Key stays where it is this time and doesn't get stolen again."
Sunset nodded and made a mental note to cross the Skeleton Key, which had been rumored to be hidden somewhere known only to the Thieves Guild, off of the list when she had the time. They came across some people who seemed like they were ready to go insane, though that wasn't until Sunset noticed the iron door that was covered in chains and locks. She approached the door and knocked on it, letting the sound echo throughout the chamber before she heard someone on the other side move towards the door. An area near the top slid open, allowing her to glimpse an old man who seemed like he was getting closer to death with each year that passed him, before he immediately told them to begone.
That was, however, until Sunset dropped the bomb on him that she was the Dragonborn and that Delphine had sent her to find him, which caused the man to unlock the door in a hurry. Once she and Raja were allowed inside the room Esbern, now giving up the charade he had been holding onto while trying to convince them to leave, turned on them and asked what they wanted.
"So, Alduin has returned," Esbern commented, cutting Sunset off as she tried to explain what was happening to the old man, "I knew it... I knew that this would happen and no one bothered to listen to me. I guess now we'll have to find Alduin's Wall and discover the method the Nordic Tongues of old used to defeat him in battle."
"Actually, there's someone worse than Alduin around," Sunset explained, dropping the second bomb, the existence of Tirek and how much power he had at the moment, on both Esbern and Raja, "Winterhold, and the College, have been completely obliterated, the Thalmor Embassy has been ruined beyond belief, and Tirek's out there somewhere doing Celestia knows what. I'm in a race against time, as I need to collect every Daedric Artifact and make sure that they're secured, so I can eliminate any chances of him getting anywhere near one hundred percent of his power."
"And if you were to fail Dragonborn?" Esbern asked, worry and dread filling his eyes as he asked the question, "What would happen to Nirn if this Tirek gained his full power?"
"The true End Times," Sunset replied, sighing as she thought about it, "He'll bring about the end of Nirn and shatter this world under his hooves, before beginning the journey to my home world to repeat the process once more. I have a temporary alliance between Alduin, Delphine, and the remainder of the Thalmor that reside in Skyrim at the moment, including four of the fifteen Daedric Artifacts already secured in a place that only I can access."
"Ah, the Dragon Cult," Esbern commented, as if something dawned on him, "I read stories about one of their number, a priest called Rahgot, who was posted out here in the Rift, before the downfall of the Cult happened."
Sunset's eyes lit up the moment she heard there was another priest, one who hadn't been awakened yet, that she could interact with and send towards Labyrinthian. She pulled out her map and had Esbern circle the area where the ruin Forelhost was supposed to be, before wrapping her map up and beckoning for the two of them to follow her outside. They quickly retraced their steps through the Warrens, leaving behind the people that Sunset had heard speaking behind all the closed doors, before they returned to the Ragged Flagon. Once they were back Sunset gathered up her friends and started to make arrangements for Esbern to be delivered to Fellglow Keep, though as she did so she noticed that Raja was doing it already.
Once the deed was done Sunset and her companions left the Flagon behind, though as they left Sunset noticed that Raja was still following them, pulling on a pack and checking her weapons.
"What?" Raja asked, noticing the look that Sunset was giving her, "I may be the Guild Master for the Thieves Guild, but Karliah and Brynjolf are more than enough to run this place until we're done kicking this 'Tirek's' ass all the way back to Oblivion."
Sunset sighed and moved on, not really sure what to make of their newest addition to the group as they quickly made their way out of the Ratway and exited Riften through the gate they had entered from. Though as they followed the path to Forelhost Sunset overheard Cicero welcoming Raja to the group, though she wasn't too shocked when she heard what he called her.
"Ah, welcome to Magic's team, Kindness," Cicero said, a smile appearing on his face while they walked, "I am Cicero, the Fool of Hearts, and I have been named Laughter by the Night Mother. And now that makes six of us. Six Elements to do battle against the dreaded enemy that even the Night Mother would fear to face... if she could walk and fight that is."
Sunset was beginning to wonder if the Listener, Raja's sister, was actually someone else from Equus, one that knew about the Elements of Harmony, and was silently helping her gather the people who represented a certain Element. Either that, or Cicero was insane and was correctly guessing what Element Sunset believed each of her friends could represent.
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Not half an hour later the group was standing before the ruin known as Forelhost, though as they approached the ruin's entrance Sunset noticed that someone had made camp in front of the main door. That someone, she eventually discovered, was an altmer dressed up in the clothes of a Stormcloak officer.
"You there," the altmer called out, seeing the six of them approach and getting onto his feet in a hurry, "The General sent me to... acquire... a weapon of incredible power for the war effort. Will you help me acquire the staff of the Dragon Priest called Rahgot?"
"Just unlock the door and let us inside," Sunset replied, knowing that she could likely get the door unlocked with Raja's abilities, but also figured that the altmer had the key and was going to trade it for help in retrieving something from the ruin, "We'll see what we can recover once we're inside the ruin."
Sunset had the feeling that the altmer was lying about the war effort and was just going to use them to recover Rahgot's mask, though she had no intention of fighting one of her allies... she merely wanted to wake him from his slumber. The moment that the door was unlocked the group walked inside, their weapons drawn as thhe busted down the wooden door that rested just a few steps in front of the main door. That action immediately caused the ghosts that inhabited the ruins to awaken from their slumber, turning to face the intruders as Lydia severed the ghostly head of the first one she came to.
As they fought the first wave of enemies Sunset noticed that several of them, maybe the most intelligent of the former Dragon Cultists, stared at her from a moment before nodding and fading from existence. She had no idea what that was about, but she figured that if it meant they had to fight less draugr and ghosts then she was okay with them disappearing.
They passed by several sleeping areas, where even more of the undead rose up to greet their living intruders, and Sunset spotted a journal that had somehow remained intact over the years. As her friends destroyed the undead she picked up the journal and skimmed through the pages, finding that they had a lot of stuff to go through to reach the inner sanctum. Or, if any of them were masters at picking locks, they could open the well without getting the key and save maybe an hour or two before the flames got to them. One ghost, finding that Sunset was into the journal and wasn't paying attention, drew back its arm and swung at her, but that was before Lydia dashed forward, raised her battleaxe, and disarmed the ghost before driving her weapon through it completely.
They rounded a few more corners before they came to a large wooden door that lead deeper into the ruins and was guarded by a single draugr deathlord. Sunset held up her hand and stepped down to where the draugr was standing, backing up just a tiny bit when it swung its greatsword at her and missed. The draugr swung again, but this time Sunset disappeared before the blade could touch where she had been standing, reappeared behind her enemy, and drove the Dawnbreaker so hard into the draugr's chest that it dropped its weapon. Then she spun around and let the charred corpse fall to the ground, swinging her sword as she sheathed the blade on her belt once more, slightly pleased that she had acquired the artifact first.
They continued through the door and delved deeper into the ruins, eventually coming to a hallway that had several open coffins and a group of draugr that was waiting for them. Lydia, Fiona, and Cicero charged forward, their weapons cutting into the draugr that stood before them, though one of them hit Cicero on his right arm and caused him to back up. As the others fought Sunset raised her hand to the wound and called on one of the healing spells that she knew, using some of her magic to seal the wound and make it look like it had never happened in the first place.
Once the group of draugr was taken care of Sunset turned to the left for a moment and spotted the side passage that the journal had mentioned, though she backed up to avoid the swinging blade trap and timed the swings before moving towards the locked gate. Raja, eager to move things along even faster, produced a lockpick, slid it into the keyhole of the gate in front of them and turned it several times before pushing the gate open. With the gate out of the way they descended into the water and made their way even deeper into the forgotten ruin, coming to yet another area with a group of freshly awoken draugr. Sunset's friends stepped forward and began to fight the draugr, though both Cicero and Raja snuck around and delivered punishing blows to the backs of their enemies.
They rounded yet another corner, passed through another door way, and walked up a set of stairs before they came to an eating area that housed another group of draugr. Sunset wasn't surprised by how many of the undead they had already seen, but they were nowhere near the end of the ruin and yet more of them seemed to spill out of the walls. Then something strange happened, the majority of the draugr in the eating hall backed off and returned to their coffins, while the others that stood their ground looked confused before they charged at Sunset's group. The draugr never reached them, as Sunset spun the Staff of Magnus around and struck many of them with her magic, either blasting them into the walls or crushing them into the floor.
"I have never seen a ruin where some of the denizens choose not to fight the invaders," Raja commented, worrying that something wrong was going on, "I do not trust those that still sleep."
Sunset paid it no mind, as she silently wondered if they somehow, in some way, knew that she was allied with two of the Priests that had led the cult when it was still in power. As they walked even deeper into the ruins Sunset spotted another dragon claw, much like the golden one that she and Bjorn had found in Bleak Falls Barrow not so long ago, made of what she assumed was some green material. As the group moved further into the ruins she stopped by the pedestal and picked up the claw, though she heard a gate open up somewhere in front of them after she picked up the claw.
They rounded yet another corner and walked up one of the infamous Hall of Stories until they came to the Nordic Puzzle Door that Sunset was expecting that they would find, though she put away the Staff of Magnus for a moment. She approached the door and stared at the bottom of the claw, seeing the ancient combination and placing her spare hand on the top ring until she saw the fox symbol. She smiled and moved the second ring until the next symbol, the owl symbol, appeared on the door and moved onto the last ring, the lower ring. Before she moved the last ring she had everyone back up, just in case the combination on the claw was wrong and she sprung the traps that the door had. Once the last ring showed the snake symbol Sunset pressed the claw against the keyhole and waited a second, hearing a click as the door began to shudder and move down.
As the door moved down Sunset was surprised to find a good deal of draugr waiting for them, though not one of them made a move towards them and the two groups stared at each other for a few minutes. That was before the group of draugr parted, half moving to the right while the other half moved to the left, and the entire group of them knelt before Sunset. She had no idea why they were doing it, but as she walked up the stairs, with her friends following behind her, she spotted the only person, or undead, that could have given the command; Rahgot.
"Ah, Initiate, I have been waiting for you," Rahgot said, though Sunset was able to understand what he said, as she had done when she had spoken with Morokei, "Tell me, where shall I meet the other Priests?"
"In Labyrinthian, Lord Rahgot," Sunset replied, showing respect to the powerful Dragon Priest, "That's where the others are meeting at the moment, along with Alduin."
Rahgot seemed to nod and started shouting commands at the draugr that were standing by the stairs, which got them into motion as they grabbed weapons and whatever else they needed. Sunset knew what it was; Rahgot was preparing whatever remained of the ruin for departure, so they could journey towards Labyrinthian and join with the other two. As he did so Sunset bid him farewell and walked out the back entrance, appearing above the altmer's camp and spotted a Word Wall not too far away. There she learned the word Strun, before she turned towards the camp and leapt down, followed by her friends, where she spotted the altmer trying to send someone else into the ruins.
Both the altmer imposter and his latest recruit, a nord warrior, charged at the group, but Lydia approached them and took their heads, letting them hit the ground and allowing them to move on once more.
"Let's get out of here," Sunset said, pulling out her journal and making a note on the Skeleton Key, "I've got some planning to do before I know where we're going next."
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"So, when do you think we'll head inside the Sanctuary?" one guard, a member of the Penitus Oculatus, asked his partner, "Don't get me wrong, I want to see the Dark Brotherhood burn, but how long must we wait before starting the assault?"
"We'll be heading in soon," his partner said, patting his sword for a moment, "just as soon as the rest of the oil arrives."
"How about never," a second voice said, causing the two guards to pale for a moment, before their lifeless bodies hit the ground, "And now for the prize."
Tirek stepped out of the shadows and approached the Black Door, just as it opened and an old man stepped outside, though he was surprised by who was standing before him. Tirek stepped forward and grabbed the man by the throat, draining his body of all his magic before tossing the dried up body into the black pool. He then approached the door and extended his hand, crushing the metal before the way into the Sanctuary was open for him, to which he grinned.
As Tirek stepped into the lair of the Dark Brotherhood a werewolf leapt out of the shadows and charged at him, though he smacked it in the nose before throwing it into the wall, giving him the best opportunity to drain it dry as well. As he stepped further into the Sanctuary two more assassins came towards him, one a lizard and one an old women, but he shattered the lizard's spine before taking the women's right arm off. With the two of them crippled it made them easy targets for him to absorb their magic, breaking them into husks before discarding their lifeless bodies as well.
He then spent the next half hour scouring the Sanctuary, looking for what he had come for, but the more he searched the more he was beginning to realize that his target was no longer here.
"Looking for something are we?" a voice said, just as another woman, younger than the other one, stepped out of the shadows and faced him.
"Where is she?" Tirek demanded, knowing that this had been the last known location of his target, yet it wasn't here at all.
"The Night Mother?" the woman asked, as if to verify that was who he was looking for, "I'm sorry to say that I have no idea where she has been taken. Only one person was given that information, but I don't know which person that was. Go ahead, search all of Skyrim for the Night Mother... you'll never find her!"
Tirek appeared before the woman and grabbed her neck, lifting her into the air as he slowly, and painfully, drained her of everything she had, before tossing her lifeless body against the wall. Then, for good measure, he set the entire Sanctuary on fire, burning away everything that the assassins had brought into the area as he made his way outside. Once he was outside, and the other guards from the Penitus Oculatus had arrived, he took great pleasure in draining each and every one of them until they were dry.
"No matter," Tirek said, a small smile appearing on his face, "there are other ways for me to gain my full power."
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So, the Falkreath Sanctuary has been compromised... Since Sunset is a Dragon Priestess Initiate, isn't she also allied with Alduin by proxy?
6926962 Yeah, she's allied with Alduin... and the remaining two Blades... and the Thalmor... and whoever else she manages to recruit.
Best part about the fall of the Falkreath Sanctuary is that Tirek has no idea that the Dawnstar one exists. I don't know how that's possible, but it prevents the Night Mother from being absorbed into his growing pool of power.
And now I keep seeing Cell when I think of Tirek.
6927198 ...I'm not surprised. I'm guessing that the leaders of the respective factions barring the Companions are the author's characters from other saves. I'm also hoping that Tirek doesn't find out about the Dawnstar Sanctuary and absorbs Vaermina and the Night Mother. I also realized that the plot reminds me a lot of the first Fire Emblem.
6927212 Well, if Tirek sent someone to gather Azura's Star and the Dawnbreaker, then I would assume that he's already sent someone to recover the Skull of Corruption. That, or he's working on corrupting the Priest of Mara in Dawnstar to give in and return to the temple, to take the artifact and deliver it to the demon.
The six are gathered
Rahgot is on the march
The Sanctuary of Falkreath burns
And Tirek is close to Barbas' position to seek Clavicus Vile's axe or masque (Mostly just the axe cause all he needs is one :P)
6927407 Kind of strange, really. You mentioned that the Sanctuary might get hit by Tirek in the last chapter, only for the author to do so at the end of this one. Either the author was planning this from the beginning, or he took your suggestion and ran with it.
6928456 It's a mystery~
6928456 Nah I'm sure the author planned this, ever since he's sent Cicero to join the club, it was to be expected that every faction's quest were active, by then I've already suspected Raja.
6928493 That raises another point; the Mages, Thieves, and Assassins Guilds are currently active, but what does that say about the Companions? Aela mentioned that Kodlak was alive and well, so does that mean that the quest line is inactive. Or does that mean that the Silver Hand hasn't attacked and that one of Sunset's friends is a werewolf?
6928645 We have to assume it's active like the others, and if we're on that assumption, already finished with a Harbinger at their head. Assume that everything had been moving around the same time Sunset reached Winterhold, it's been many weeks, and considering travel in every chapter takes a day or two at most, consider plots in the main quest line are also moving, like the invasion of Whiterun, unless Sunset interferes beforehand.
6928699 I like the way you think, though we won't know about the Companions until they return to Whiterun... or whenever they meet a group of wandering Companions.
6929413 Ah shit just remembered, Barbas' quest leads near Ivarstead, he'll be next to the Greybeards and Paarthurnax...
The elements have gathered and a third Dragon Priest now walks Nirn once more. Time to mess Tirek up.
Is that a Gandalf quote? :3
Women is the plural. Woman is the singular. You seem to have made this mistake quite a few times over the last several chapters
He is Crazy in the same way as Pinkie Pie